Spanish born Eindhoven based designer Nacho Carbonell has developed an excellent blend of experiment and narrative implications. The ‘luciferase’ has undoubtedly bridged the boundaries between contemporary art and design, sculpture, functional use and exuberance and restraint. Transparency’s textural application makes this piece a fantastic one. It is beautifully constructed on a base of fragmented stone with LED lights fixed resulting in images of bioluminescent creatures with primitive appearance due to reversing aesthetic and technical conventions. However, all the lamps share a similar square base with a stand and hollow circular element with flashing LEDs embedded.
Luciferase is an excellent collection of 15 light pieces which successfully defies the limits of epoxy resin. The superbly designed exterior of Luciferase exhibits velvety soft material in contrast with the interior translucent and diaphanous textures. The textures are created using a mixture of epoxy resin, referencing dentition, colored pigments, filaments and rocaille. The lamp reflects an exquisitely crafted conjuncture of the transparent sparkles of gemstones like amethyst, quartz or malachite. Some lights closely resemble any carnivorous plant’s mouth. The structure undoubtedly questions the limit between genetic manipulation, abissology, vegetology and mineralogy. Few pieces also contain a bulb which is concealed behind the resin to function as a filter diffusing mystery.
